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colossal

American  

[kuh-los-uhl] / kəˈlɒs əl /

adjective

1. 

   extraordinarily great in size, extent, or degree; gigantic; huge.

2. of or resembling a colossus.

3. (initial capital letter) noting or pertaining to a classical order whose columns or pilasters span two or more stories of a building.

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colossal British  

/ kəˈlɒsəl /

adjective

1. of immense size; huge; gigantic

2. (in figure sculpture) approximately twice life-size Compare heroic

3. Also: giant. architect of or relating to the order of columns and pilasters that extend more than one storey in a façade

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Usage

What does colossal mean? Colossal describes something as being very large in size, degree, or amount, as in I went to a colossal shopping mall that stretched for a mile. If something is colossal, it is enormous, gigantic, or massive. Colossal can also be used to describe a large degree of something, that is, a large amount or a large extent, like a colossal amount of boxes or a colossal advantage in the playoffs. Less commonly, colossal describes something as resembling a colossus, which is a very large statue, as in The large man was so colossal that he blocked the entire doorway. Example: Tyrannosaurus rex was a colossal dinosaur that towered over many of the smaller animals.

Synonym Usage

See gigantic.

Other Word Forms

• colossality
  noun
• supercolossal
  adjective
• colossally
  adverb
• supercolossally
  adverb

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Etymology

Origin of colossal

First recorded in 1705–15; coloss(us) + -al ¹

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Explanation

Colossal describes something so large it makes you say, "Whoa!" You might have a colossal amount of homework, or see a colossal pyramid while vacationing in Egypt. Colossal can refer to an item's physical size, like a giant redwood tree, but it can also be used to describe the force or scope of something — like the colossal force of a thunderstorm that knocked down the redwood tree, or the colossal scope of your school project on the history of the redwoods that seems like it will never, ever end. It comes from the Greek word kolossos, meaning "gigantic statue."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

colossal

Toyota executives said they want to try new kinds of vehicles for different needs and customer use-cases, while bringing more agility and experimentation to a colossal company often hamstrung by yearslong development processes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2026

The vehicle, which does, underneath all those angles, feature a truck bed with a motorized cover, was almost immediately labeled a colossal blunder.

From Slate ● Nov. 9, 2026

Instead, the pairing has been a colossal dud.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026

AI-linked firms continued to struggle amid worries about the sustainability of the colossal investment boom that pushed stock markets to multiple record highs in the first half of the year.

From Barron's ● Oct. 26, 2026

I fling open the door, climb the stairs, and rush outside to find myself not in a hallway but on the deck of a colossal ship.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

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Related Words

• enormous
• gargantuan
• gigantic
• huge
• immense
• jumbo
• mammoth
• monstrous
• vast

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